VCHAT APP SOFTWARE

We argue that the grand design approach to innovation – where a new product or service emerges fully-formed in the mind’s eye of the innovator before it is developed and commercialized – can be more effective than design thinking under certain circumstances, most notably when a market is in its early formative stage of development. This user-centric perspective has made design thinking hugely popular, but some consultants and academics have argued that it is too structured, too prescriptive, and results in incremental or conservative outputs. Design thinking has been defined as a non-linear, iterative process which seeks to understand users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions to prototype and test.

The grand design logic is markedly different from the now-standard design thinking approach to innovation that was popularized by design firm IDEO in the 1990s. He personally led the entire development effort of WeChat, taking responsibility for the overall look and feel of the product, as well as overseeing the coding teams. It was built on the vision – or grand design – of Allen Zhang, a senior executive at Chinese tech company Tencent, who saw an opportunity in 2010 to create an entirely new product for the mobile era. Our research suggests that WeChat’s success wasn’t achieved through technological superiority. What we’ve found that is WeChat isn’t just a Chinese success story – it offers insights to innovators everywhere. We recently conducted an in-depth study of WeChat, through exclusive interviews with 15 executives, including founder Allen Zhang. Many observers rate WeChat as offering a superior user experience than its western counterparts today, and its innovative features are now being copied by others. But WeChat didn’t get an easy ride: it had to fend off dozens of domestic competitors when it was launched, and it had to keep innovating to stay ahead.

VCHAT APP SOFTWARE

Many westerners are skeptical about successful Chinese software companies like WeChat: there is a perception that they have succeeded through copycat strategies, and have benefited from Facebook and Google being blocked from operating in the country.

And it provides integrated services for upwardly-mobile Chinese users, by offering taxi, restaurant, movie-booking and retail apps all within its platform. It is the leader in mobile payments, with more than 800 million users of WeChat Pay. WeChat users send more than 45 billion messages a day.

With more than a billion daily active users, it is the default option for social networking and chat. WeChat, the messaging app, dominates daily life in China.

Vchat app